SOUTH AFRICA
New union to hold congress
The ousted head of the nation’s largest workers’ federation formed a rival group and plans to hold its first congress late next month, the eNCA Web site reported on Saturday, citing a union statement. Zwelinzima Vavi, former secretary-general of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and an ally of the ruling African National Congress, registered the new union federation on Friday, eNCA said. Vavi, 54, an outspoken critic of the ANC’s economic policies and alleged corruption under President Jacob Zuma, led COSATU for 16 years before being expelled in 2015.
PHILIPPINES
Malaysian hostages freed
Troops have rescued three Malaysians held captive by Abu Sayyaf rebels, the military said yesterday, the second such operation in four days as security forces step up offensives against the militant group. The three men were kidnapped from a ship eight months ago, and their rescue means no other Malaysians are currently held hostage as two others were rescued at sea last week. The military said the three were rescued on Jolo Island on Sunday, but gave no details of the operation.
MYANMAR
Army boss defends action
Army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing yesterday defended a military crackdown in Rakhine State after the UN pledged to probe claims security forces carried out a campaign of killing and torture against Rohingya Muslims there. Speaking to crowds assembled in the capital for armed forces day, the general said: “The Bengalis in Rakhine State are not the Myanmar nationalities, but the immigrants... The terrorist attacks which took place in October 2016 resulted in the political interferences.”
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not